she lives in new york for marriage equality where it's legal. her suit against the united states isn't asking to be legally married. it's to have the federal government recognize her legal marriage. >> right. >> vis-a-vis the internal revenue service. because when her partner of 42 years died, she owed $363,000 in federal estate taxes that she would not have to pay if her spouse had been a man. >> and that's a great point because she was legally married in canada, lived in a state that marriage equality is legal. so we're not asking in this case for them to affirm the marriage. it's just for them to affirm where she is legally married that the federal government has to respect that, rich around. >> yes, that's true. but i think that the big picture we want to emphasize today is that we are at the beginning of the end of this struggle perhaps. >> right. >> and that these cases are perhaps among the most historic that any of these justices will ever decide because they are defining right before our very eyes what it means to be an american, what r